Technical Field
The invention of the Tri-Power Exerciser relates to an exercising machine that can be used by riders to simultaneously, or on demand, exercise all major muscle groups located in the three major sections of muscle tissue in the human body. They consist of: a) the legs and thighs, b) arms and shoulders, and c) core area of a rider's abdomen and back.
State of the Art
There are some patents and products on the market that provide an ability for users to ride a stationary bike while simultaneously exercising both their upper and lower body muscles, in conjunction with their cardio systems. Representative of these patents and products is U.S. Pat. No. 7,789,808 B2 by Lee, et al. In Lee's patent, riders can: a) exercise their legs by rotating them on a set of pedals, b) exercise their arms and shoulders by rotating them on a set of hand cranks, and c) exercise their core muscles by engaging the linkage mechanism on their exercise machine. Engaging Lee's linkage mechanism connects a sliding seat to a rod that is indirectly attached to either the rotating hand cranks or rotating pedals. The torque created from riders rotating their hands or legs not only rotates the fly wheel, but it also forces the seat to slide back and forth over its slider. The Lee patent is completely different from the instant Enablement of the Tri-Power Exerciser for the following reasons: a) in order for riders to slide the rear seat, Lee requires that the rider must first engage a linkage mechanism, which will then cause the rotating pedals or hand cranks to slide the rider's seat; whereas with a Tri-Power Exerciser, riders use only their core muscles to slide their seat and body over the slider, without any assistance from their legs or arms and shoulders; b) Lee's invention has riders rotating their arms on arm cranks to provide torque from their arms and shoulders to rotate the flywheel; whereas with the Tri-Power Exerciser, riders attach their elbows into forearm bar holders, and then vertically rotate their forearms up and down in unison providing torque from each up and down power stroke to rotate the resistance flywheel; and c) Lee's exercising device strictly uses 360 degree rotational torque from either the rider's legs or arms to assist the rider in powering the sliding seat; whereas with a Tri-Power Exerciser, the inventor designed an independent housing containing two inverted racks, two pinion gears, two one way bearings, and an axle holding them in position to convert the rider's linear generated sliding seat power into rotational torque that turns the crank axle.
In addition, with the Tri-Power Exerciser, riders create the initiating linear energy from either oscillating their forearm bars up and down, separately sliding their seat back and forth over the slider, or using their legs to rotate their pedals. Alternatively, the riders can use any combination of the foregoing functional means to rotate the crank axle whichever they choose.
Another example of related art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,462 B1, also invented by Lee, et al. This second Lee patent is also completely different from the instant Enablement for the following reasons: a) with the Lee machine, the rider sits in a recumbent position with his legs located parallel to the ground, and he uses his legs and arms together to slide his seat; whereas with the current invention, the rider sits in an upright position with his legs positioned perpendicular to the ground, his legs are mounted on pedals, and his legs have no involvement in the rider sliding his seat; b) with Lee's exerciser, the riders rotate their legs on a set of pedals, which are connected directly to the flywheel axle, and thereby he directly inputs torque into the flywheel; whereas with the current invention, the riders rotate their legs to turn a set of pedals that are connected to a crank axle located in the mid-section of the exercise machine, and then a chain transfers the leg created energy into the resistance flywheel; c) the Lee exerciser permits riders to exercise their legs, upper back, and core together pushing back with their legs while simultaneously pulling back on a rope that is indirectly connected to the resistance flywheel, this rope is then automatically rewound back to its original position such that the rider only inputs torque during this one directional pull, much like with a rowing machine; whereas with the instant Tri-Power Exerciser, riders are able to simultaneously, or separately, input torque into the resistance flywheel during: 1) both the up and down vertical and in-unison power oscillations of their arms, 2) leg rotation of the pedals, and/or 3) sliding back and forth on their slider from use of their core muscle groups; and d) Lee's exercise machine creates torque to rotate the resistance wheel from direct rotation of their legs, or pulling on a rope that rotates a wheel, which in turn rotates the resistance flywheel; whereas with the Tri-Power Exerciser, it converts linear power into torque through use of a housing containing two inverted racks, two pinion gears with two one-way bearings, an axle holding them together, and a sprocket and chain.
Another example of related art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,682,462 B1, invented by Gerry K. Kelly. Kelly's patent is also completely different from the instant Tri-Power Exerciser for the following reasons: a) the purpose of Kelly's invention is to provide an exercising machine that primarily exercises the rider's abdominal and back muscles by having the rider's legs supply energy to a hydraulic motor that pumps hydraulic fluid through hydraulic lines to cause the carriage to oscillate gently relative to the frame, thereby causing exercisers to use their abdominal and back muscles to re-position themselves in the carriage in order to keep their balance; whereas with the instant invention, the rider is able to simultaneously, or on demand, input torque into a resistance flywheel during: 1) both the up and down vertical oscillations of their arms in unison with one another, 2) leg rotation of the pedals, and 3) sliding their seat and torso back and forth on the slider from use of their core muscle groups; b) the Kelly patent uses rotational energy from the rider to indirectly cause a hydraulic pump to push hydraulic fluid through hydraulic lines that oscillates the rider's seat; whereas the Felker invention directly uses human muscle energy to rotate a resistance flywheel, and c) the Kelly invention is designed to cause the carriage to rock and roll which in turn necessitates movement of the rider's torso in order to keep his balance; whereas with this Tri-Power Exerciser invention, the riders constantly have their elbows and forearms affixed into elbow holders so that they will automatically enjoy stability of their torso and will not lose balance during the exercise activity.